How to Disease-Proof Your Body

Let's say you're stranded on a desert island. You know the game: You can have only 10 CDs. Or five books. Or one woman. For the rest of your life. Except, in this version, you can have only three organs. Which would you choose? A heart, natch. How about a brain? Definitely, otherwise the heart couldn't pump a single pint. And número tres? If you're really honest, you'd choose the organ you'd need to satisfy the woman with whom you chose to spend eternity.

Of course, if you had just those three organs, eternity would last all of 2 seconds. And that's the point of this gruesome hypothetical: We value certain vital organs more than others, but the fact is, they're all just that -- vital. So, while it's great if you work hard to keep your heart healthy, your brain sharp, and your penis -- well, you know -- it may be for naught if you aren't protecting your other anatomical all-stars, too. Don't worry; this guide will show you how to safeguard everything from your lungs to your liver. In other words, if your organs had to choose a single magazine article to be stranded with on a desert island, this would be their pick.

LUNGS

If you think the airbags in your car are high tech, consider the set in your chest. Not only do they extract oxygen from the air you breathe and exchange it for carbon dioxide from your bloodstream, but they also help filter out any bacteria and viruses you might have sucked in. The more efficiently your lungs function, the higher your energy levels and the lower your risk of an airborne infection.

Your best protection: A surfeit of flab isn't just hell on your heart. "Being overweight puts a tremendous strain on the lungs," says John Mastronarde, M.D., an associate professor at the Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute at Ohio State University. "Excess fat in the chest wall can compromise lung expansion and possibly lung function." Fortunately, even a relatively small drop in total poundage can have a big impact: A study in the journal Chest shows that losing 10 percent of excess body weight can improve lung capacity by 5 percent.

As you cut back on high-calorie foods, increase your intake of the flavonoid-filled kind, particularly apples. "Flavonoids may have antioxidant properties that enhance lung function," says Dr. Mastronarde. London researchers recently found that people who ate at least two apples a week had as much as a 32 percent lower risk of developing asthma. And an earlier study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute determined that eating an apple a day may cut the risk of lung cancer by 40 percent.

KIDNEYS

Urban legends about organ theft invariably involve pilfered kidneys. And why not? Only really valuable stuff gets stolen, and by anatomical standards, kidneys are practically priceless. They're the twin treatment plants that remove excess water and waste products from your blood before recycling the blood back into your circulatory system. But that isn't all. "They also regulate all the fluids, salts, and acids in the body," says Leslie Spry, M.D., a spokesman for the National Kidney Foundation.

Your best protection: Because kidney stones are more painful than a Real World reunion show, we tend to think of them as the biggest threat to our blood filters. But a greater danger, one that can't be prevented by consuming copious amounts of water, is high blood pressure. Chronically elevated BP can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys, causing them to slow down or stop their waste-removal function -- and that can raise blood pressure even higher. Left untreated, this can become a veritable death spiral.

Besides the proven pressure-relief measures, such as ingesting less sodium and swallowing more potassium, there's also a benefit to packing on more muscle. A study from the Medical College of Georgia shows that participants with the most muscle mass had 11 percent lower systolic blood pressure and 7 percent lower diastolic pressure than those who weren't as buff. To achieve the maximum BP-lowering effect from your workouts, do power exercises (see the 15-Minute Workout); they train the fast-twitch muscle fibers, which grow the largest.

GALLBLADDER

Your gallbladder is basically a glorified holding tank. This pear-shaped organ is where a portion of the bile pumped out by your liver is stored until it's needed to help digest fats in your small intestine. And while you can live without a gallbladder -- your liver will send the necessary bile directly to your intestines -- it's worth keeping it healthy, if only to avoid the agony of a gallstone.

Your best protection: Gallstones, which are really more like "gallpebbles," are small pieces of crystallized cholesterol. You can have a few and not even know they're there -- until one becomes painfully lodged in the duct leading to your small intestine. There is, however, a relatively simple way to prevent the little suckers from forming in the first place: Break a sweat.

A Harvard University study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine monitored more than 45,000 men and found that one-third of all cases of gallstones could be prevented with 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise -- from running to brisk walking -- five times a week.

Log that essential half hour of cardio work in the a.m., then pile on the protection by eating oatmeal for breakfast and washing it down with orange juice. Research has determined that soluble fiber -- of which oatmeal is one of the richest sources -- and vitamin C can both lower the risk of gallstones. Note: In this case, skip the fresh-squeezed OJ and buy the frozen-concentrate kind instead; lab analyses show that frozen actually has the highest levels of vitamin C.

PANCREAS

A Leatherman has nothing on this multi-tool. Located between your stomach and your spine, your pancreas secretes insulin to regulate blood-sugar levels and metabolic rate, as well as to help neutralize stomach acids that accidentally enter the intestines. "It also produces enzymes that break down the fats, carbohydrates, and proteins we eat so we can absorb them," says John Affronti, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at the Emory University school of medicine.

Your best protection: If you're guarding against gallstones, then you've already reduced your risk of pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition often caused when an errant stone blocks the organ's main duct. And, as a sort of bonus, by preventing pancreatitis, you also help lower your odds of being diagnosed with a disease that's deadly in nearly 100 percent of cases: pancreatic cancer. (It's as fast as it is fatal; pancreatic cancer killed Little Joe, a.k.a. Michael Landon, in just 3 months.)

Another strategy for slashing your cancer risk is to pig out on produce. When Canadian researchers analyzed the diets of nearly 5,000 men, they discovered that those who adhered to a diet high in fresh fruits and cruciferous vegetables had a 49 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer than men who ate mainly meat and potatoes. If you're not a fan of brussels sprouts and broccoli, go ahead and cover 'em with ketchup. In a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, men who regularly consumed tomato-based products lowered their odds of developing pancreatic cancer by 31 percent. All the kudos go to lycopene, the red pigment that first earned its stripes in the battle against prostate cancer.

LIVER

More than just your body's antidote to alcohol, your liver helps flush out other toxic stuff you were never meant to swallow, e.g., any food purchased from a drive-thru window. The organ does this by producing a grease-dissolving goo known as bile. (See "Gallbladder.") Oh, and in its spare time, your liver also removes bacteria from your bloodstream, lays away a supply of iron, and converts glucose into glycogen to be stored for energy.

Your best protection: You know the spiel -- cut back on the booze and your liver will live longer. That means two drinks a day, max, if you want to avoid cirrhosis, a disease in which normal liver cells become damaged and are replaced by scar tissue. Eventually, so much scar tissue forms that the liver no longer functions properly and its main vein becomes blocked. That said, don't wave off the bartender just yet; pretend you need to sober up and order a cup of coffee.

A study of more than 90,000 Japanese published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reveals that those who drank 1 to 2 cups of joe daily had half the risk of liver cancer of those who went without. (Score one for Starbucks; there are more than 500 of the stores in Japan.) The study also shows similarly dramatic results for people with liver diseases, such as hepatitis.

"Coffee contains large amounts of antioxidants," says Manami Inoue, M.D., Ph.D., the study author. "And studies have shown that such coffee compounds inhibit carcinogens in the liver." The best bean? British researchers discovered that medium-roasted coffee has higher antioxidant activity than dark-roasted varieties.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Men's Health participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.